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Within this section we sketched the main elements of a trademark registration procedure with RO PTO / OSIM, OHIM or OMPI (duration, requirements, validity, advantages). |
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Within this section we sketched the main elements of the trademark registration procedure with RO PTO / OSIM, OHIM or OMPI (duration, requirements, validity, advantages). For any other additional piece of information which we failed to describe, with regard to trademark registration proceedings and /or the proceedings preceeding or succeeding a trademark’s registration, we kindly ask you to contact one of our firm’s industrial property attorneys.
- The main stages of a national trademark's registration in Romania
Preliminary examination
Full examination
Publication of the trademark in the official bulletin, for opposition purpose
Issue of the Certificate of Registration
- Average duration of the registration procedure
From 8 to 9 months.
- Necessary documents
Individuals:
ID card
Power of attorney, simply signed in the PRI's favor
Legal entities:
Power of attorney, simply signed in the PRI's favor
- Protection period
Once registered, a national trademark benefits of a 10 years protection period, counted as from the filing date.
At the expiry of the initial protection period, the trademark registration may be renewed for unlimited times of 10 years each.
- Documentary trademark search
Conducting a preliminary trademark search is advisable for anyone who plans using a name or a sign on the market, for ensuring that they do not infringe other entity's rights and avoiding any possible subsequent complication concerning counterfeiting or unauthorized use.
The documentary searches are complex procedures, conducted through three databases, respectively: Romanian Patent and Trademark Office (national trademarks database), European Trademark & Design Office (community trademarks database) and World Intellectual Property Organization (international trademarks database).
- Legal rights deriving from a registered trademark
According to the Law no. 84/1998 on trademarks and geographical indications - article 35, the registration of a trademark confers its owner an exclusive right upon the said mark.
The trademark's owner may ask the court to prohibit the unauthorized use by third parties, in their activity in business, of:
a) a sign which is identical with the trademark and refers to identical goods or services;
b) a sign which is identical or confusingly similar with the trademark or refers to identical or similar goods /services and by this virtue would be capable of inducing to the public the likelihood of confusion and association;
c) a sign which is identical or confusingly similar with the trademark and refers to different goods or services, when the trademark has gained a reputation on the Romanian territory and if by using the respective sign without due cause the user could take unfair advantages of the distinctive character or reputation of the trademark and prejudice the owner;
When applying the above, the trademark's owner may ask for the following acts to be prohibited to third parties:
a) applying the sign on goods or packaging;
b) offering, stocking or putting the goods on the market /supplying services under the sign;
c) importing or exporting goods under the sign;
d) using the sign on business papers or in advertising.
The trademark's applicant may ask for the above acts to be prohibited to third parties only after the publication of the mark, for opposition purposes.
For any act which follows the trademark's publication, the applicant may claim damages, according to the common law. A decision ordering the payment of damages shall be enforceable only as from the date when the trademark was registered.
In the event the trademark application is rejected from registration, the applicant will not be entitled to any damages.
The owner of a registered trademark cannot request for third parties to be prohibited from stocking, offering or putting on the market goods bearing the trademark, in case the goods were put on the market with the owner's consent or by the owner itself.
The provisions of the above legal article shall not apply in case the owner submits strong reasons for objecting to the commercialization of those goods, especially when the goods' condition was either modified or altered after having been put on the market.